VILLA CARDS1895-1899

In the 1890s, Aston Villa were the greatest team in England, and by extension the world. In the period 1895-99, they won the Football League three times and the FA Cup twice - scooping both in 1897 to complete a rare 'double'. And it was in this era that the football card - courtesy of cigarette manufacturers - came into being.

Football League Champions: 1896; 1897; 1899

FA Cup winners: 1895; 1897

1896: Godfrey Phillips (cigarettes) - General InterestJust two footballers in this set, one of them a Villa man.